Flames of the Phoenix
by Geal
Summary: A story about two young dragoons and their friends as they journey across Vana'Diel in an attempt to save the world.
1. Chapter 1: The Academy

**Part 1: The Academy**

Chapter one

He opened his eyes to the thousands of green needles swimming in the blue ocean above him. Kain sat up and rubbed his eyes, staring up at the massive pine tree he had dozed off under. It was surprisingly warm for this time of year; the cool green grass provided a soothing contrast.

The young man worked up some strength and stood up, his orange hair falling in front of his face. He brushed it behind his right ear, revealing his captivating orange eyes. His eyes were quite mesmerizing, reflecting even the smallest traces of light; the orbs constantly gave off a faint glow.

Kain strode over to the trunk of the giant pine and bent over to grab the sword he had rested against the tree. With sword in hand, he walked away from the tee and into the sun. The warm rays beat down onto his face; he closed his eyes and took in the gentle heat. Most would find the fiery heat unpleasant, but Kain always enjoyed the flaming heat; it soothed him and gave him warm comfort.

His eyes let out a small glimmer of light as he opened them, gazing into that sky so blue. He lifted up his blade, reflecting the sun into his eyes. The sword was forged of peculiar steel; it was silver, yet at the same time had a blue hue to its blade.

"Ahh…" Kain thought to himself, "Adamant makes such beautiful blades. It's as if I had pulled down the sky itself…"

He lowered his sword and buried it deep into the scabbard tied to his belt. A slight breeze picked up, cooling him down and blowing his hair back in front of his eyes.

He looked back up at the sun, not bothering to move his hair.

"Damn, time for class already? I slept longer than I thought."

Kain walked across the green field dotted with pine trees and their needles, toward the Dragoon Academy of Li'Telor. It was a large campus that had only opened within recent years. As the dragoons came back into the world of Vana'Diel a hundred and twenty years prior, more and more people showed interest in the profession. Only a select few, however, received the privilege of becoming a full-fledged dragoon and training at the academy. Kain's great-great uncle, Seyonne, had been the one to bring dragoons back from extinction, so Kain had always been guaranteed a spot at the academy. In fact, he had lived there most of his life.

He walked across the field toward the main castle. The academy was tucked in a small clearing in the forest to the northeast of the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah. There was a rod cleared through the forest to a set of docks on the Oceanside. Using a sea route was the only safe way of getting to the academy; the Sanctuary was the only other way, and it was littered with stone golems and goblin squads. Kain had sailed in from his home in the Tavnazian Archipelago using these docks.

As Kain walked through the courtyard toward his class, he glanced up at the statue of Erpalacion, the last dragoon before their extinction. The giant stone figure stood ten feet tall, carved out of pure amethyst. The mighty stone Elvaan stood with his lance in hand, giving an intimidating yet inspirational image to all the students.

"Even if the mightiest of warriors fall, and an entire race dies, there is always hope." Was carved into the base of the statue on a golden plaque.

Kain continued past the statue without a second thought, entering the stone halls of the castle. He went up many flights of stairs, calmly and cooling despite his being terribly late. He walked down a long deserted hall before going down a set of stairs and into a wooden door at the bottom.

"You are latar-"the professor stopped himself from repeating his bad habit, "you are late!"

"I took a nap…lasted longer than I expected." Kain muttered as he stood in the doorways.

"Humph, take your seat."

Kain walked over to his metal stool next to the stone desk. He sat next to the girl Trice, who was the closest thing he had to a friend at the academy.

Trice was a charming young girl. She had very dark brown hair, often mistaken for black. It has a brilliant shimmer in the sun, and is easily recognizable as its natural color under such conditions. She was about the same size as Kain, a little taller actually, but no one really noticed. She had eyes of aqua, a clear color with a hint of blue, just enough to give them life. Her eyes always reminded Kain of a slightly cloudy sky; blue, but with a beautiful white to distort it.

Kain sat down, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up as much as he could. He lifted his head from his hands, his hair dimming the glow from his eyes.

Professor Chiku-Biku continued his lecture about something Kain really didn't care to learn about. The professor was a Tarutaru, a race that are short, cute, and child-like; their looks do not reflect their age, however. Chiku-Biku, who all the students called Chibiku, was one of the most skilled teachers in the entire academy, despite being just less than three feet tall.

Chibiku paced back and forth across his raised pedestal, going on about the dragoon's part in the Crystal Wars. Kain stared blankly toward the front of the room, pretending to be paying attention. He looked over to Trice, who had already fallen asleep on the stone table.

A purple blur flew across the room, slamming down hard on Trice and Kain's desk. Trice was shook back into consciousness by the violent thud on the stone. Chibiku stood on the desk in front of her, his golden hair flung about his face. Although standing on the table, he was still eye-to-eye with Trice.  
"Ahem- there shall be NO sleeping in my classroom, Miss Trice!" and with a quick twist of his short arm, Chibiku gabbed his lance and thrust it straight through a picture Trice had been doodling. He pulled his lance back up, revealing a small hole in the grey stone of the desk. "No drawing either, you shall pay attention in class OR ELSE!" he crumpled the paper into a little ball and threw it at Kain's head. "The same goes to you, Kain." Chibiku holstered his lance across his back, and with little effort leaped back to his front desk.

Kain and Trice both grumbled something under their breaths, and went back to sleepily watching the lecture.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Kain and Trice walked across the fields together, taking in the warm air after class.

"Ugh, how did that runt ever become a dragoon? His wyvern must be bigger than he is!" Kain complained as they walked along. He looked toward the tree he had dozed off under earlier and let out a low sigh.

"I know he's tough," Trice tried to console him, "but there's not much time before we finally graduate…"

Kain gave her a frustrated look; the end of each year was always hard on him.

"Hey! We have battle training next," Trice said, changing the subject, "you love that class!"

"Not the people in it though, have to deal with Hunt…" Kain said, sounding depressed.

Trice gave him a disgruntled, annoyed look.

"Humph, fine, I tried cheering you up, but if you just wanna mope around all day, that's fine with me!"

Trice stormed off toward their next class, with Kain trudging along behind. Kain stopped and turned around; that tree and the soft, cool grass looked pretty good to him…

He let out another long sigh and continued toward his class.

Kain and Trice stood outside the edge of the forest surrounding the academy, along with many other students in the class. They were all standing in a big group, watching their Elvaan instructor, Kuraude, pace back and forth across the grass.

"Today, class, we will be practicing the newfound art of flame projection. Although the original corps of dragoons never used, or even knew of, this technique, recent soldiers have perfected it. Flame projection is performed by grasping your lance-" Kuraude looked over at Kain, the only one in the academy without a polearm, "err, grasp your weapon and focus your energy, your rage, your strength; harness every ounce of fire burning within both you and your wyvern's soul and…!" With one smooth motion, Kuraude grabbed his lance and thrust it forward towards the woods behind him. A raging inferno shot forth from the tip of his lance toward the trees; then, as Kuraude slashed his lance upward, tip pointing to the sky, the flames followed where the lance pointed; flying high into the air. Suddenly, the fires burst apart in midair, sending flames spiraling across the sky, giving it a beautiful orange glow, almost as if twilight had come early.

All the students gazed up at the amazing light show overhead. Kuraude gave a proud smirk; he loved showing off, even if it was to just his students. Like all Elvaan, Kuraude was very tall, standing at almost eight feet, with dark skin, black hair, pointy ears; a pretty typical Elvaan.

He, like all the instructors at the academy, was clad in a dark purple vest made from steel, two large shoulder pads of the same color and material, and a brown leather undershirt. On his hands he wore purple gauntlets; his legs were covered with dark purple leather brais; and his feet were dressed in purple greaves with small points at the end, upturned and facing his legs. On his head he wore a dark purple helm; pointed in front; rounded in back; and two fins rising from the sides of the helm, resembling the ears of a wyvern. This whole ensemble was known as "Drachen Armor," and was the uniform worn by all high-ranking dragoons.

Kuraude held his lance off to the side with his right hand and turned to the crowd of students.

"This is a very difficult and sometimes dangerous technique, so I shall be observing each of you individually. I'm afraid that since we are so far behind in our training, that you shall not be able to master this technique here in class, you must work on it out in the field during your final exam." He thrust his spear into the ground and leaned lazily on it. "SO, who wants to go first?"

Kuraude scanned the group of students; no one said a word. Kuraude got a disgruntled look on his face, soon replaced with a devilish grin.

"Fine then, we don't have to work on this, it's not all that important anyways…" Kuraude pulled his lance from the ground then slouched over; slowly walking away from his pupils. Suddenly, without any warning at all, he leaped high up into the air, spinning like a bullet; he flung his lance down toward the group of students with every ounce of strength in his body, sending the weapon hurtling at them with the force of a hurricane. As the lance whistled through the air like a dart, all the students jumped away in fear. The lance hit the ground very hard, driving its way deep into the earth, leaving only about a quarter of its shaft remaining visible.

"You kids disappoint me," Kuraude said as he came back down to the ground, "I doubt any of you could even remove my lance. Go on now, just try to budge it!"

The polearm had dug its way deep into the ground, creating a small crater in the soil around it. A few students went over and gave it a hard tug, but none could even make it so much as budge an inch.

"Humph," Kuraude scoffed as he walked over to the lance, "pathetic." And in one smooth motion, clenched the lance with his right hand and pulled it cleanly from the ground.

All the students stared at him, wide-eyed and mouths hanging open as Kuraude spun the lance above his head. He brought it down fast, stopping it less than an inch away from a young Hume boy's nose.

"You were the first to jump away from the lance, you shall be first to attempt flame projection!" Kuraude said in a loud, booming voice.

The blonde-haired boy stood trembling for a moment, then smirked in an attempt to intimidate the other students and appear tough.

"Sure, no problem!" the boy, Hunt, said as he brushed Kuraude's lance away with his hand. Hunt walked forward to the front of the field and unhooked his polearm from the back of his orange gi. He stepped back with his right foot, lowering the tip of his lance down to his heel with both hands and focusing his energy. He tilted his head off to the side, grinning back at Kain.

Hunt twisted his torso around to the left, slashing through the air with all his might. As his lance cut through the atmosphere, Hunt was dumbstruck as only a few sparks trickled forward, burning out on the ground.

Again and again, Hunt waved his spear around in an attempt to get a great inferno, never producing any more than a few embers.

"All right, all right, that's enough. Stop before you hurt yourself!" Kuraude interjected.

Hunt slowly lowered his spear and walked back to the crowd, grumbling under his breath.

"Well, as you can all see from Mr. Hunt's amazing performance," Kuraude announced sarcastically, "that you have nothing to worry about! You'll all probably fail miserably anyways."

One by one, the students took their turns trying to produce fires, but none achieving any more than a few simple sparks. Trice only managed to release a small puff of smoke on her turn.

At last, it was Kain's turn to give the technique a shot. He walked in front of the class, Kuraude struggling to keep awake at this point from all the unspectacular performances.

Kain drew his sword from its scabbard and raised the hilt up to his right shoulder, blade pointing up at an angle behind him. He gripped the sword tightly with both hands as he swung down to his left. Nothing. He heard Hunt laughing behind him, but ignored it. He lifted the hilt up to his left shoulder this time, swinging down to his right. Nothing.

"Ha-ha! Even Trice did better than you!"

Trice glared over at Hunt, his macho attitude getting on her nerves.

"Don't listen to him, Kain, you can do it!"

Kain ignored the both of them. He kept his blade low, hilt on his hip; he rotated it so the tip of the blade was pointing behind him. With one strong swing, Kain spun his body around in a semicircle, his sword following with immense force. As the blade migrated from his right side to his left, a huge burst of flames erupted from it; he had produced a great explosion from a mere sword, an explosion that was rushing straight at Hunt with all of its speed and might.

Kuraude leaped in front of the blast, quickly holding up his lance in an attempt to stop the blast. He held it back as best he could, but his mere steel weapon would not hold. The flames hit Kuraude like a charging buffalo, sending him flying back into the mass of students. As the fires disappeared and the smoke cleared away, Kuraude was seen kneeling on the ground; his lance shattered into dozes of tiny shards and pieces strewn around the grass.

Suddenly a giant shadow fell over the entire field. Everyone looked up at the monstrous beast hovering overhead. The giant dragon landed on the ground hard, causing the earth to shake and knocking several students off their feet. It reared its head up and let out an immense roar, causing the students had to cover their ears from the booming reverberation of the dragon's call; the ground even shook under the power of its howl. The gigantic reptile trotted over to Kuraude, the land trembling with each great step. It lowered its huge head and gently nuzzled Kuraude.

"There, there, girl, everything's okay; just a demonstration gone a bit wrong, nothing to worry about!" Kuraude said happily to the dragon, petting its muzzle gently. With his free hand, he reached into a small pouch hanging from his belt and pulled from it a small, bone-shaped biscuit. He tossed the brown treat into the air, the dragon skillfully catching it in its jaws.

"Now, back on over to the fields, we can play later." Kuraude said as he patted the dragon's snout.

The dragon munched happily on its treat before raising its great wings into the air. The great beast leapt from the ground, beating the air with its colossal wings and causing a great gust of wind; knocking down several more students in the process, but Kuraude and Kain stood firmly. The giant dragon flew up high into the air and over the academy; out of sight.

Kuraude dusted himself off as the students all stood back up and regained their bearings. Kuraude walked over to Kain and rested a hand on the young boy's shoulder. Kain looked up at the towering Elvaan next to him.

"Well," Kuraude said, exhaling deeply, "I think that's enough practice for one day…"

Kain sheathed his sword and walked back over to the rest of the students. All the other students were murmuring, muttering, whispering, and spreading rumors about what had just occurred with Kain; everyone was staring at him with their cold, accusing eyes.

"What was THAT about?" Trice whispered to Kain as Kuraude started lecturing about flame projection again.

"I…I…" Kain started.

"Hey! Kain! This is important! Stop talking to Trice and pay attention!" Kuraude yelled over at Kain.

Kain glared over at Trice, whose cheeks turned dark red.

"Oops, sorry about that." Trice whispered over to Kain.

"Just forget about it, okay?" Kain whispered back to her.

"Kain! Shut up!" Kuraude yelled at Kain again.

"Y-Yes sir, sorry!"

Kuraude gave Kain a dark look, and then continued on. Kain and Trice both kept quiet, paying attention to Kuraude's lecture; neither of them noticed Hunt, who had been staring coldly at Kain…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A few days passed without much happening. Kain couldn't go anywhere around the academy without having people point and whisper at him. Even the teachers had all heard rumors about what had happened; it seemed the entire world was accusing him. The entire world, except Trice.

It was finally the weekend, and the following week would be when all graduates would set out on their final exams; a dangerous mission where people's lives could be on the line; a real test for a dragoon.

Kain and Trice walked through the halls of the castle toward the mess hall and the kitchen; neither of them had eaten anything all day.

"Ugh… so hungry… Why did we spend so long studying history?" Kain groaned as he held onto his rumbling stomach

"For our final mission." Trice Replied with a half-smile. The finals weren't her real intentions; she had just wanted an excuse to spend time alone with Kain. Although they were friends, they didn't spend much time together outside of their classes.

"But we're going on a _mission_," Kain objected, "how will knowing Erpalacion's relationship with Ranpere help us fight beastmen or save a damsel in distress?"

Trice let out a small sigh at Kain's clueless ness.

"Let's just get some food, okay? We're both starving."

"Finally! Let's go!"

As the two walked into the cafeteria, the low chattering of the students died down; all eyes focused on Kain and Trice. Kain didn't notice anything, he was used to this sort of thing by now; but Trice was a bit uneasy from it all, she hadn't gotten used to the awkward silence and accusing stares.

Kain smoothly walked over to the buffet table, picking out his favorite foods from the assortment and adding them to his plastic tray. Trice hesitated, and then came to join him; people were trying not to look suspicious as they whispered behind Kain's back, but Trice easily noticed them.

"Great, now rumors will spread about me too… oh well, Kain needs a friend right now." Trice thought to herself." Hey, maybe people will start to say we're going out…" she quietly giggled, but stopped when Kain turned around and gave her an odd look.

"Are you feeling okay?" Kain was puzzled; Trice hardly ever giggled, especially not at times like these.

"Oh! Yes… yes, I'm fine." Trice's cheeks turned bright red, but Kain didn't take notice.

They finished loading up their trays, Kain having to walk slowly and carefully to balance all the food he had gathered. They were walking through the cafeteria, down the center aisle when something hit the back of Kain's head, hard. Kain dropped his plate, food scattering across the floor. Kain's left hand shot to the back of his head to put pressure on the pain, and with a flash his right hand was on the hilt of his sword.

Kain whirled around, drawing his blade. And there he was; Hunt, tossing an orange up and down in his hand, grinning evilly. Kain looked down to see another orange on the ground, split into a few pieces from the impact on Kain's head.

"Grr… What do you want Hunt!" A Great fire burned in Kain's eyes; he had always hated Hunt, and had been in many fights with him before.

"What do _I _want? Now you care, you wretched freak!" Hunt mocked Kain. "You have always outdone me no matter how hard I try; people actually think that YOU are strong! HA! You're nothing but a pathetic weakling with some flashy lights. I should be at the top of the class, not you! The only reason you wound up in this dump is because of your grandpa. Has anyone noticed you don't even have a polearm? Has anyone noticed you have no wyvern!"

"Just ignore him and walk away, Kain!" Trice tried to make peace, it was always her who broke up their fights, and she was used to it by now.

But this was the last straw; Trice's words were lost to Kain. His fist gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, the air around him began to become wavy and distorted, as if he was on fire. Kain leaned back and lowered his sword, ready to leap and strike down Hunt at any moment. This was no longer Kain, it was a burning hate buried deep inside of him, arising from deep within Kain's soul like a phoenix from the ashes.

"What kind of pathetic excuse for a dragoon is that!" Hunt continued, pleased by the large circle of students gathered around them. "You give dragoons a bad name! You put this school to shame just by attending, and yet you're at the top of the class? All of Vana'diel must be laughing at you!"

Kain was visibly trembling with rage at this point. A young Hume boy with long brown hair noticed this and ran off to get a teacher; a fight was about to break out, and it had to be stopped before someone was killed.

"You make me sick! To see that someone like you could make it into the academy! You are a mockery! You are a cancer to our society!" Hunt stopped tossing the orange up and down; he clenched it in his fist so tightly it began to split under the pressure. "You… you are worthless scum!"

With all his might, Hunt hurled the orange at Kain. Kain gripped his sword with both hands, shifting it to his left as he leaped at Hunt with all his might. Kain sliced the orange to ribbons as he flew at hunt like an eagle toward its prey.

Hunt barely managed to get out his lance before Kain hit him like a bullet. The two flew across the room, Hunt doing his best to hold back Kain's blade. They hit the floor hard, Hunt pinned down by Kain's sword. Hunt's arms began trembling as his strength diminished, but if he didn't hold up, he knew Kain would kill him.

Kain felt Hunt's defense weakening, and began pushing down on his rival's polearm with all his might; his blade's point mere inches away from Hunt's throat. Suddenly, Kain felt two powerful hands clench his shoulders then throw him back and away from Hunt.

"What the hell are you two doing! You want to get expelled this close to graduation?" Kuraude screamed at Kain and Hunt.

Kain came back to earth; he suddenly realized what he was doing, what had happened, everything. There was a moment of silence as Hunt stood up, and Kain sheathed his sword. Kain walked quietly over to where Hunt and Kuraude stood.

"I… I'm sorry professor; I don't know what came over me." Kain apologized and bowed to the two of them respectfully.

"Don't apologize!" Kuraude said. "That boy Garaku told me exactly what happened." He glared down at Hunt, who was eyeing Kain with a dark hate in his eyes. "That is why I have decided to keep this from the headmistress."

Chibiku and a Galkan professor by the name of Gir came into the room. Gir was just as tall as Kuraude, but much more heavy-set and wide with muscle, like all Galkans. He had pale, gray skin; a short, stubby tail; and the only hair on his head was his black beard, unevenly cut and pointed in several places.

Chibiku rode on Gir's shoulder to get a better view of the situation.

"What's going on here? We heard quite the commotion." Gir's voice boomed, loud and low.

"Oh, just a bit of fun." Kuraude replied. "These two students are excellent sparring partners; they were just giving me a demonstration."

Gir uneasily stroked his beard as he contemplated Kuraude's excuse.

"Well, enough sparring, everyone get back to your meals!" Chibiku commanded.

Kain turned around and started walking away from Hunt and Kuraude.

"Yes, that's right, turn and run you cowardly scum…" Hunt mocked Kain quietly yet again.

Kain spun around and threw his fist at Hunt. Kuraude flinched slightly to halt the attack, but hesitated at the sight of the fist; it was on fire, burning with intense flames; Kuraude had never seen anything like it.

Kain's hand met Hunt's face in an explosion of fire. Flames blew out of Kain's fist, burning Hunt's face and turning his hair to ash.

Chibiku and Gir jumped over the crowd of students to tend to Hunt. Everyone gathered around them, but Kain steadily walked away; his hand pleasantly burning.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Freja, the headmistress of the academy, took her seat at the front of the table. The entire staff of the academy had gathered there in the conference room; this was a very serious matter.

Freja was a young Elvaan woman with long black hair. Her eyes, although such a dark indigo that they were nearly black, were comforting; being around Freja always gave people a warm, kind-hearted feeling. Unlike the rest of the academy staff, however, she wore a special suit of armor; it was made of very rare, very beautiful white-colored steel known as molybdenum. The molybdenum was pounded into sheets and plated with luscious gold and tied with silver threads. The suit had thick, tan colored cosciales, held together by silk cloth and rare kinds of buffalo and bugard leathers. She wore orichalcum and platinum gambieras on her feet; and monopolas made from adaman and gold on her hands. On her head, she wore a brilliant zucchetto made from gold, copper, and darksteel, coning up into an orichalcum point at the top, slicked back to resemble a feather. Her whole ensemble was known as the Barone set, and only the most talented dragoons had the honor of wearing it.

"Now, I am sure you have all heard about the attack on Hunt, one of this year's graduating students, which occurred earlier today." Freja began; her voice was warm and friendly, yet deadly serious. "This was no ordinary assault; Kuraude, Chiku-Biku, Gir, please give us the details of what happened."

The three of them stood up and explained what each of them had seen.

"Hmmm…" an old dragoon Hume with a long white beard spoke. "So… do you think he might be the next one?"

"Perhaps," Freja replied, "we'll send Kain and his friends to the tower as their final mission; that should prove whether or not he really is the next in line…"

There was a huge mob of students gathered around the bulletin board in the main hall of the academy. The teams and assignments for the final mission had been posted, and everyone wanted to see what would be in store for them.

"'Kain, Trice, Garaku...speak with headmistress Freja for your assignment.' Hey! We're on the same team!" Trice said excitedly after reading the board.

"Who's that Garaku guy?" Kain asked.

"He's the one who told Kuraude about your fight with Hunt."

"Great, we're teaming up with a snitch."

"Don't say that! If it wasn't for Kuraude, you would've killed Hunt! Nearly did anyways, he's still in the hospital."

"Well, the board said to talk with Freja, better get going then."

Kain and Trice arrived in the headmistress's office; Freja and Garaku had been waiting for them.

"Ah, good, you're all here, now we can get started." Freja announced as she sat at her desk. "Now, it has recently come to out attention that a powerful villain by the name ofKakeshi has been hiding out in Delkfutt's Tower on Qufim Island. He is thought to be very dangerous, and is a threat to the peaceful society we live in. your assignment is to travel to the Grand Duchy of Jeuno and contact the dragoon corpse branch located there in the Tenshodo, they will provide you with further information. Are there any questions?"

"Once we arrive in Jeuno," Garaku asked shyly, "how will we get to Qufim?"

"There is an underground passage from Port Jeuno that connects to the island. Do not worry though," Freja handed Garaku a large, tan colored envelope, "all of your directions and maps are included in here. Well, most of them anyways, it is up to you whether they are the best routes or not."

"How will we find the Tenshodo and the dragoon corpse?" Trice asked.

"That information is also included in the envelope." Freja replied, "well that is really all I can tell you for now, the rest will come to you in time. You three will need to utilize everything you have learned while you have attended my academy if you wish to succeed; and when you do, you shall all be honored as full-fledged dragoons! You shall depart for Jeuno tomorrow at 6:00, so get some rest tonight, you'll need it."


	5. Chapter 5: From the Ashes

**Part 2: From the Ashes**

Chapter Five

"Wake up already! We're going to be late!"

Kain let out a low moan and turned over in his bed to look at Trice; his hair greasy and tangled up from not being washed. One of his eyes was closed; the other only half-open.

"Ugh, morning already?" Kain grumbled as he pulled the covers over his face. "Just five more minutes…" Kain yawned and rolled to the other side of the bed, away from Trice.

"Grr…. I'll give you five more minutes!" Trice reached down and flung the sheets from his bed. Trice's face immediately turned bright crimson; she didn't know Kain slept in the nude.

Trice just stood there staring at Kain, who hadn't realized what was going on yet.

Kain rolled over onto his back, giving Trice a perfect view of his… body.

"What is it?" Kain sleepily asked as he saw Trice staring at him. He looked at her with a confused look on his face, and then looked down at himself, following her eyes; suddenly it dawned on him.

"AAAGGH!" Kain sat up and tried to cover himself with his hands, but in his panic ended up falling off the bed and hitting his head hard on the stone floor. Trice whirled around and covered her eyes; her cheeks glowing red.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Trice was almost screaming, she had never been so embarrassed before in her life.

Kain tugged the sheets from Trice's hand and wrapped them around his waist. He rubbed the bump on his head from where he had fallen as he stood up.

"Why're you waking me up so god-damned early anyways?"

"Why? Today is the day of our exam! We leave for Jeuno in twenty minutes!" Trice still had her back to Kain; she was too embarrassed to face him. "So go shower up so you don't stink and then get out here already! And… and please put some clothes on!"

Trice quickly ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Kain stared blankly at the door for a few minutes, trying to piece together in his head what had happened. After a couple minutes, he lifted up his arm and sniffed his armpit.

"I don't stink THAT much…"

Kain rushed out onto the field; his hair still dripping wet from his shower. The open field at the front of the academy was mostly vacant now; all of the students gathered there before setting off on their missions, but only a few scattered groups were still left.

Trice and Garaku stood next to each other; Garaku screening over a map, Trice's arms folded as she tapped her foot impatiently on the grass. Trice's wyvern, Khocha, sat at her feet gnawing on some blades of grass; Garaku's wyvern, Nanaja, was hovering in the air, nipping at a butterfly fluttering around his head. Both of the wyverns were still quite young. Nanaja was the size of an average dog, all black save for the purple spots and streaks about his body. Khocha was smaller than Nanaja; his body light blue with speckles of a dark indigo; the underside of his wings, his belly, and the tip of his tail were all a light orange, however.

Kain ran up and stopped in front of them. "Heya guys, sorry I'm late!"

"Pfft," Trice glared at Kain, "took you long enough, didn't even bother drying your hair."

Kain grinned roguishly at Trice then shook his head from side to side, his hair flinging water everywhere.

"Eek!" Trice jumped back and landed on Khocha's tail. The small wyvern let out a loud yelp and flew up into the air for a few seconds. Garaku, however, stood there soaked. He hadn't realized until then that Kain had even arrived. He dried off the map he had been examining as best he could, then put it back into the envelope Freja had given him the day before.

"Well, the first step to getting to Jeuno is to go through the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah; it's not very far, about a day's walk. The only problems are the goblins, goobbues, and a few golems." Garaku explained.

"Heh, sounds like fun," Kain smirked, "so which way do we go first?"

Garaku pulled out a compass and checked it, rotating around to try and find the right direction. He looked up and pointed off into the forest. "That way, southwest!"

"Well, time's a wastin'! Let's get going!" Kain hurried off in the direction Garaku had pointed in. he walked at the front of the group, unofficially declaring himself the leader.

"'Time's a wastin'!' he says, he's the one who was late!" Trice grumbled to herself as she and Garaku tagged along behind Kain.

The forest around the academy was very thick and dense with foliage; it was not long before the forest was as dark as night. The three of them made their way through the thick brush; Khocha and Nanaja having to trot along the ground; there was no room to fly. Time passed very slowly for the adventurers, or at least it seemed to; the forest's canopy was far too thick to watch the position of the sun.

"Ugh, are we there yet?" Kain moaned as he slowly walked along, his enthusiasm replaced by boredom. He had fallen behind Trice and Garaku, too tired to worry about being leader.

"Just a little bit farther until we reach the edge of the forest," Garaku replied, "we can take a break once we arrive." Garaku's stomach let out a low gurgling noise. "We can have some food, too."

Trice held her tummy. Indeed, she was quite hungry and tired as well. She looked up at trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blue sky above. For a split second she saw a break in the trees; but the sky she saw was a deep orange. "Have we been walking all this time...?" she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Trice tripped over a large purple crystal sticking out of the ground. She fell forward and rolled down a short, steep hill; she ended up in a small patch of dirt and moss. She looked up to see Kain and Garaku make their way down the hill. Garaku reached down to take her hand, helping her up.

"What is this place?" Kain asked, looking around at his surroundings. Trice brushed the dirt from her doublet and glared over at Kain, who hadn't even offered to help her.

They were in a large, moss covered clearing in the forest; hollowed down into the earth, thus creating a kind of makeshift room. There weren't as many trees now, and the orange sky was clearly visible. There were purple gems prodding out of the ground every few feet, giving off a faint glow. Some gems as small as pebbles, some as giant as boulders.

"We've finally reached the Sanctuary!" Garaku exclaimed proudly.

"Whew! Finally!" Kain plopped down on the ground, relieved to finally get some rest. "Let's set up camp for the night!"

"Huh?" Garaku stared at Kain, confused. "Set up for the night? But it's only-" Garaku cut himself off as he looked up at the sky in surprise; it wasn't the bright blue sky he expected, but a dark pink, almost purple. "Jeez, no wonder I'm so hungry! All right, we'll camp here and continue in the morning."

Garaku and Trice dropped down their packs. Trice began rummaging through hers, looking for something. Kain was lying on the ground, using his hands as a pillow. Garaku was still standing, looking around at the nature surrounding them.

Kain sat up and looked around as well. One of the large purple crystals caught his eye.

"What's with the weird glowing rocks anyways?" Kain bluntly asked.

Trice just shrugged, still searching through her pack.

"I'm not exactly sure…" Garaku told Kain, "I assume they're some form of amethyst, from their color, but I've heard rumors that it's really mythril."

"Amethyst? Mythril?" Trice said as she stood up, pulling a box of wyvern treats from her pack. "Why haven't goldsmithers and miners cleaned the place out yet?" She tossed a small, bone-shaped cookie to Khocha.

"Well," Garaku answered, happy for all the attention, "I suppose all the goblins scare people off, and golems tend to be found near the crystals. They say golems are born from mythril, so some researchers have theorized that the crystals were put here manually in order to bring in golems."

"Why would someone want to summon golems to a remote place like this?" Trice inquired.

"Not sure, probably to protect something, since golems are so fierce."

"So, the golems are here to protect…the mythril? Not really much here to protect…"

"They're keeping people away from…something…the knowledge of what they are guarding was lost long ago."

Trice thought deeply as she stared into one of the crystals; she soon realized something was wrong.

"Hey, where'd the good-for-nothing go?" Trice suddenly noticed Kain was gone.

"Good-for-nothing? Pfft!" Kain walked out of the dense forest walls, his arms full of logs and branches. "You should talk! While you two were having a geography lesson, I was out collecting firewood."

Kain cleared away a small circle in the moss on the ground with his foot, and then dropped the lumber down in the small clearing. Kain unsheathed his sword, thrusting the blade down into the timber. Flames burst up around the blade and Kain's hand. Kain saw the fire hit his skin, but it didn't burn; it was a gentle, warm, soothing feeling, like the touch of a loved one. The kiss of the flames on his hand felt comforting, however, he soon recoiled his hand out of the fire; leaving the sword in the ground. He hoped neither Trice nor Garaku had noticed; most people don't just leave their hands in the middle of a campfire.

"Well, looks like you're good for something after all, Kain." Trice said as she sat down in the warm glow of the fire.

Garaku pulled three sticks of meat mithkabobs from his pack and handed one to each of his friends.

"This is all we have to eat?" a lousy shish kabob?" Kain objected as he held the small stick with chunks of various meats skewered on it.

"They're light and easy to carry. Don't worry though; there will be plenty of food once we reach Jeuno." Garaku said.

"Hmmm…" Kain stuck his mithkabobs into the flames, "Jeuno, eh? When will we reach there?"

"It's still about another day's walk…" Garaku said as he rummaged through his pack in search of a map. He pretended not to hear Kain's groan. "This is where we are now." Garaku pointed to the northeastern tip of s map printed on rather old parchment, to the square labeled "H-7." Kain and Trice huddled around him to see where to head next. "We just go along here until we reach the edge of the sanctuary and the end of the forest." Garaku said as he traced a trail along the map with his index finger. "This will stick us in a small canyon which leads to the Meriphataud Mountains. It's basically a large desert area with lots of, well, nothing really but weeds and rocks." Garaku grabbed the map of the mountain area. "The sanctuary lets out here," he pointed to the northeastern edge of the map, "all we do is head west; there's an old outpost here," he pointed to a red dot on the map, "so we can take a break there for food. Once we leave the outpost, we'll head northwest into the Sauromugue Campaign, a wasteland covered in old ruins. I highly doubt we'll make it to Jeuno in one day, so we'll find a nice old ruin to camp out in for tomorrow night. Once it's morning, all we need to do is continue northwest, and we'll reach the Harbor Bridge that leads to Jeuno in a matter of hours."

Kain stared at Garaku with a blank look on his face.

"Ugh, just follow me and we'll reach Jeuno day after tomorrow."

"Great!" Kain exclaimed as he pulled his mithkabob from the fire and took a big bite from one of the chunks of meat. "Sho," Kain tried to talk with his mouth stuffed with food, "vat do ve do onth we weach dis Jwuno pwace?" Kain gave up and swallowed his food.

"Well, it depends on how fast we get there." Garaku explained to him, trying not to watch Kain sloppily eat with his mouth open. "If we get there early enough, we'll have time to walk around and check out the shops, Jeuno is a huge trade city. If we're slow and arrive late, we'll need to report directly to Crawd."

"Crawd?" Trice asked, Kain had stopped paying attention now that he had warm food to devour.

"Crawd, AKA The Shadow Stryker, is a direct descendant of Erpalacion himself; he's the most skilled dragoon on the planet, and is the main commander of the dragoon corpse." Garaku finally stuck his mithkabob into the flames. "The envelope said he was the one to give us our briefing."

There was a long period of silence between the three adventurers, each lost in their own thoughts about the journey ahead. Trice sat there, nibbling on her mithkabob while she gazed into the dancing flames. Garaku had propped his mithkabob between two rocks so he could sit back and read through some books and maps while it cooked. Kain leaned back, picking his teeth with the vacant stick as he gazed up into the stars, a faraway look in his eyes.

"H…hey Kain?" Trice looked from the fire up at Kain.

"Hmm?" Kain turned his face away from the sky to look at Trice.

"Well…how are you able to do, well, everything you do? You're a dragoon, but use a sword instead of a lance…and you don't have a wyvern…" Trice placed her hands on Khocha's head, gently petting him. "You could shoot flames from your weapon better than the instructors on the first try. You can even shoot fire from your hand, no dragoon has been able to do that before…"

Kain looked back up at the stars, as if searching for the answer in them. He thought long and hard before breaking the silence.

"Well…when I was little, I lived with my father in the Tavnazian Safehold. Well, we didn't actually live in the safehold, just outside of it, in a small cottage in Lufaise Meadows. You all know how successful my parents were as dragoons, so my father taught me everything he knew. Polearms and lances were always too big and awkward for me, since he taught me at such a young age, so I quickly took a liking to swords." Kain closed his eyes as he spoke, lost in memories. "I soon developed the ability to jump like a dragoon, but without farming a pact with a wyvern. My father was a very wise, very kind man; he told me I was born with a pact, I simply hadn't found my wyvern yet. He taught me how to fight, and I developed the ability to project flames from a blade on my own. However…" Kain opened his eyes, gazing once more into the stars, searching for answers. His eyes were deep, swimming in thought as he studied the stars, asking them to help him, "I'm afraid I don't know why or how I am able to make fire with my hands. It has only happened a few times, when I feel enraged or full of anger."

There was a long silence for the rest of the night. Trice and Garaku both finished their mithkabobs and went to sleep, but Kain lied in that same spot for what seemed like an eternity; looking to the stars as countless thoughts flew through his mind before sleep finally caught a hold on him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Kain found himself running down a dark hallway as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to keep running and never to stop. There weren't any lights; just the dim glow of the moonlight through the tall stained-glass windows in the passage. Large statues of armor were displayed in the stone hallway, but Kain gave them no notice. His lungs, his heart, his head, everything; every inch of his body was burning with pain, yet Kain ran with all the speed he could muster into his being.

He dashed off into a passage to the left; everything went as black as the night sky. No windows. No torches. No light. Darkness. Kain slowed from a run to a jog, then down to a calm walk. He soon slowed down to a stop in the suffocating blackness. He blinked, but couldn't notice.

He reached off to his left, grasping a doorknob. He slowly turned it and pushed open the door. Inside was a dark room, dimly lit by four floor tiles arranged in a two-by-two square; the tiles glowing a deep, bright orange. As he walked through the room toward the panels on the ground, he noticed the room appeared to be a bedroom. He stood on the four panels, the burning pain inside him turned into comforting warmth, the same warmth from the campfire.

He raised his arms and closed his eyes, bathing in the warmth. He opened his eyes and found himself in a different room. This new chamber very brightly lit with torches hanging from the walls. The room looked very old, its walls made from a tan colored stone. There were pictures and markings engraved around the walls; murals of legendary creatures. But one image stood out above the rest; a carving of two giant birds facing each other, one bone white, the other a blazing red; the whole depiction took the space of an entire wall, obviously the reason this room had been constructed.

Kain walked over to the mural portrayed on the wall. He ran his fingers along the carvings engraved into the stone; as his fingers ran along the image of the red bird, the figure caught fire. The giant flaming bird flew from the wall, circling around the ceiling above Kain before diving down into him.

Kain sat bolt upright, damp with sweat. He was panting heavily, his lungs short of breath. He looked around, confused; he was still in the sanctuary, sitting in front of the fire pit where he had fallen asleep, his sword still sticking up from the ashes.

"Was it just…" Kain thought to himself as his breathing calmed down.

"Finally you're awake! We thought you had died or something."

Kain heard Trice's voice and looked over to her. She and Garaku had already finished packing their things for the trip.

"Jeez, Kain, you look like you've seen a ghoul, you okay?" Trice said, giving him a worried look.

"Y…yeah, I'm fine." Kain put his hand to his forehead. "Just a bad dream, that's all."

Kain stood up, brushing the dirt and moss from his clothes. He pulled his sword from the embers, a small flame bursting forth from the ground as he did so. For a split second, it seemed to take the shape of a bird, then burned out. Kain looked down at the ashes for a moment, then sheathed his blade.

A loud boom echoed throughout the trees, making all three of the adventurers jump with surprise.

"What was that?" Trice quickly asked in a bit of a panic.

"Someone must be fighting off a goblin," Garaku replied, "the little buggers always carry around bombs in their packs."

Trice's face turned pale with fear. Without warning, Kain threw an arm around her shoulder, making her jump. She looked up at him angrily for startling her, but quickly noticed her was wearing a comforting smile. Having Kain's arm around her made her feel warm and safe; his smile made her forget her troubles, she knew that everything would be okay with Kain next to her. This was an odd feeling, an emotion she was not yet familiar with. "Could this be…" Trice thought to herself as she stared at Kain with her eyes, her new eyes filled with feelings she had never felt before.

"Don't worry! I'll pwotect you fwom dose big, bad gobbies, Twicie." Kain joked as he grinned at her, his eyes squinted and his yellow teeth glowing from his mouth.

"Grr…" Trice shoved Kain off her shoulder and stomped over to Garaku, ripping a map from his hands.

"H-hey, wait!" Garaku protested.

"Shut up Garaku!" Trice scolded as she studied the map. After a few moments, she stormed off in the direction of the exit. "C'mon you slackers!" she yelled back.

Kain, Garaku, and the wyverns trailed behind her.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Kain whispered over to Garaku.

Garaku let out a small sigh then walked on ahead of Kain. Kain gave up, confused, and continued on.

Time passed rather slowly for the three friends, and after an hour or so, Trice had calmed down. Kain was looking around at the trees and the rocks, a very puzzled look on his face. Trice looked back and noticed his confused look.

"Hey, Kain, you okay?" she inquired, worried as to what was wrong.

"It might just be me, but…I think we're going around in circles…this scenery looks very familiar…"

Trice looked about her at the trees surrounding them. "Hey, I think you're right…but I've been following the map precisely."

Garaku peered over Trice's shoulder at the crumpled map he was holding.

"Um…Trice?" that's the wrong map…"

"What? This isn't the wrong-" she looked down at the map in her hands, a grim look sweeping across her face; the map was entitled "Tahrongi Canyon." Trice handed the map to Garaku, staring at the floor; she was doing her best to hold back her tears. She had tried so hard to not only impress Kain, but also get back at him for making fun of her, but she only ended up ruining things for everyone.

"I'm sorry…" Trice muttered, a slight tremble to her voice, "I've only messed things up, who knows where we are now…"

There was a moment of silence, then Kain spoke up.

"No worries! Where there's a will, there's a way! Hey, Garaku, you said we're trying to reach some barren mountains right?" Kain optimistically asked.

"Y-yes, but what does that-" but Kain was gone, a small pillar of dust left in his wake.

Kain looked up as he leaped high into the air, his hair blowing back and his eyes sparkling brilliantly as they reflected the sunlight. As he flew up above the treetops, he looked around at the scenery before him; lots of trees; what appeared to be an old, crumbling stone tower; and the academy. As Kain felt himself begin to descend, he spun around to look behind himself. He saw several tan, sun-bleached mountain tops; this was their destination.

Kain hit the ground, bending over for a moment from the recoil of the impact. He hastily stood up straight, pointing in the direction of the mountains.

"Thatta-way!" he said with confidence, then walked toward the target without a second thought.

Although Trice and Garaku were a bit uneasy about following Kain, they decided they might as well go along with him as leader, for lack of a better choice.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

The three adventurers continued forward, simply following Kain's still-pointing finger. Kain's arm was violently trembling from trying to stay up.

"You know, keeping your finger up doesn't help if you're just pointing forward." Trice told Kain, it was hard for her to believe that anyone could be so stupid.

"Huh?" Kain stopped and looked down at his finger.

Trice let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "You're simply pointing in whatever direction you're facing, not toward the exit!"

As soon as Trice finished her sentence, the three friends entered a small clearing in the forest, not unlike the one they had stayed in the night before; moss covering the indented ground, the same purple crystals protruding from the earth, and small patches of sun beating down from the treetops. Unlike the other clearing, however, was a small tunnel digging into one of the walls.

The adventurers walked a little bit into the clearing, thinking they had gone in a complete circle. They had yet to notice the tunnel off to the side.

"Aha!" Garaku exclaimed as the tunnel caught his eye. He dashed over and began to examine it; it was maybe eight feet in diameter, so Garaku could easily stand inside.

"Wow…a hole." Kain said sarcastically.

"This is it, idiot," Garaku said to Kain, making Trice chuckle quietly, "this is the exit of the Sanctuary." Garaku explained as he disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. Kain, Trice, and the wyverns followed suit, but were soon completely blinded by the blackness.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous." Kain said as he unsheathed his sword and held it up like a torch; igniting it with flames and filling the tunnel with light.

It was quite a long tunnel; the adventurers had been walking for well over and hour, and with no end in sight. The moss and dirt of the tunnel thinned out, replaced by dark red stone.

Soon, Trice noticed a small orange light off in the distance; the had nearly reached the Meriphataud Mountains.

The cool air of the cave had begun to die out, replaced now with a warm musk. Although the warmth put Kain at ease, Trice and Garaku were becoming uncomfortable, already starting to sweat.

It wasn't long until the tunnel began to glow with sunlight. Kain burnt out the flames around his blade and buried it back into its scabbard. As the group stepped out of the cave, they were forced to shield their eyes from the bright sun. Eventually their vision adjusted to the light, then the three friends surveyed their surroundings.

They found themselves in a deep, thin canyon; only about four feet wide, but with sandstone walls towering far overhead. The ground was mostly covered in red dirt and stones, but with a few patches of dried-out grass and weeds littered about.

"Boy, is it hot here!" Trice said, running her arm across her forehead.

"Yeah, it's hot now, but it'll get very cold come nightfall," Garaku said as he walked on ahead, digging his face into a map as usual, "all the more reason to hurry up!"

The canyon snaked its way left and right for a good thirty minutes before opening up into the mountains themselves. As the adventurers exited the crevice, they found themselves in a large valley; dark red walls of stone sticking up from the ground in random places, creating large canyons and crevices that were strewn about the clearing.

"This region used to be much flatter and easier to traverse, but several large earthquakes shuffled and relocated much of the terrain; now only the paths leading from Jeuno to Windurst exist, so we'll need to find our own route." Garaku explained.

The group was faced with a stonewall blocking their path. Off to the side were several large toppled boulders; there appeared to have been a path there at one point, but it seemed a recent rockslide had caused the path to close.

"How nice of the other students who passed through here to close off their route for us…" Kain complained annoyingly. He began to observe the surroundings for a way through. An old wooden watchtower opposite of the rockslide caught his eye. He stumbled and climbed over the rocks with Trice and Garaku in tow as he made his way over to the old rotting tower. Upon arrival, Kain examined the old post for a short time, then immediately began climbing up the side.

Garaku and Trice soon caught up, Kain roughly halfway up the crumbling tower.

"Umm… Kain-" Garaku began, but was quickly cut off by Trice.

"Get offa there before you fall and kill yourself!"

"Don't worry guys! I'll be fi-whaaaagh!" one of the old termite-worn boards broke as Kain put his foot down on it. Kain quickly began falling, but shot his hand out like a bullet to grab another rafter. He looked down and Trice's panicking face, then grinned stupidly at her. "Heh, got ya there for a second, didn't I?"

Trice stared up at him for a few seconds, confused, before it dawned on her that Kain was simply being an idiot. She clenched her hands into fists as rage filled up inside her, her face turning bright red. She stomped over to the tower, furious.

"Grr… I'll show you!" Trice shouted as she kicked the tower with all her might. The old wooden tower let out a loud crack, then began swaying from side to side. Trice leapt away from the tower, screaming up to Kain, her voice riddled with fear. "K-Kain! Get down from there, now!"

Without a second thought, Kain leaped from the tower, hitting the ground hard but safely. The three looked up as the tower toppled over, crashing onto the rock wall before them; the tower managed to stay in one piece, the top of the tower just under the top of the red-stone wall.

"All right Trice!" Kain said excitedly as he hugged Trice, and then dashed over to the leaning tower.

Trice stared blankly, dumbfounded that Kain had just hugged her, then shouted over to him as she chased after, "What are you up to now!"

Garaku and the wyverns followed behind Trice as she chased after Kain.

Kain climbed up on the toppled tower, and then ran up the side of it until he reached the top. He stopped a moment to gather strength, and then jumped up to the top of the rock wall.

"Ah! Here we go, this will be much easier!" Kain exclaimed as he looked around at the region displayed before him. Although the rocky ground was still uneven, it was at least crossable. Trice and Garaku stumbled up the side of the tower and up the wall, just as Kain had done. They found themselves in a wide canyon, which appeared to open into a wider valley farther ahead.

Kain, Trice, Garaku, and their wyverns moved on ahead through the canyon, trying not to mind the violent beating of the sun. After stumbling across a few yards of uneven, slippery, sandy rocks; the canyon opened up, revealing a brilliant panoramic view of the entire valley and mountain range.

Trice sat down on a small square rock protruding from the ground as she looked around at the scene laid out before them. A strange object caught her attention off in the distance; a large, white wall stretching from one side of the valley to the other. The wall had small black patches speckled about it that Trice was unable to make out from the distance; the top didn't appear to be flat, it was very round and wavy, smoothly flowing up and down across the entire length of the object. The ground around its base seemed to be cracked and shaken, as if the object was forced into the ground, rather than built on top of it.

"What is that thing…?" Trice inquired, curious about the odd, out-of-place object.

"That used to be what was called 'Doragora's Spine,' a large bridge-like object that used to hang in the sky." Garaku explained, " It's made of the material known as cermet, a white and black multi-layered metal used in building many ancient machines and buildings." Ancient ruins such as the Doragora's Spine had always fascinated Garaku; this particular phenomenon had always been one of his favorites. "The spine fell in the great earthquake that ruined the land here. No one knows for sure why it was built, stretching from one end of the valley to the other, but I think it was used as a means of getting across the difficult terrain of the area."

Kain stared long and hard at the fallen "spine," a strange sense of foreboding plaguing his body. He shook himself from the trance and turned to Garaku.

"So, how much longer until we reach that old outpost?"

"Oh, it's off to the west. There used to be a passage through the mountain range, but the earthquakes buried it, so we'll need to take the long way around."

"All right, then, lead the way, Garaku." Trice said as she stood back up and stretched her arms above her head.

Garaku and Nanaja lead the way down the shallow slope toward the fallen bridge, slightly angled to the right as the traced the mountain wall; Trice walked alongside Kain and Khocha. They followed the mountainside southwest as it rounded up into a northern opening. As the mountain range pointed north, Garaku branched away from the wall; heading northwest and into a thin, shallow canyon dug into the ground.

The canyon was quite small, about twelve feet deep and three feet wide; forcing those passing through to walk in a single-file line as the canyon snaked its way across the valley floor. Although the twists and turns made for an unnecessarily long walk, the canyon walls provided some cool shade.

"This canyon will let us out directly at the outpost, just in time for lunch." Garaku said as the group zigzagged through the canyon.

"'Just in time for lunch'? It was time for lunch two hours ago…" Kain complained as he looked up at the sky. The canyon walls blocked the sun, but he was sure it had to be at least 16:00 by now.

As the group rounded left along a corner, the sun beat down onto them, forcing them to shield their eyes from the light. It was even worse than Kain had thought; it was past 17:30! Kain's stomach suddenly felt very empty, letting out a low moan to let the others know it too. Although Kain was the only one complaining about it, Trice and Garaku were both starving as well.

All three let out a sigh of relief as the canyon evened out and the ground gently rose up to meet the top of the walls; revealing and old, run-down wooden cabin surrounded by crumbling fence posts.

"Well, here we are! There's bound to be food left in some of the old cupboards!" Garaku said excitedly as the three friends eagerly ran up to the old shack.

Kain kicked down the old door and dashed over to one of the old cabinets in search of food. Garaku and Trice followed behind, also searching for food. Kain flung open a wooden shudder to reveal a bunch of old bean cans coated with dust and cobwebs. Kain's hand shot around one of the cans like a hawk's talons around its prey, then lifted it high above his head, opening his mouth.

Trice and Garaku stared blankly as Kain stood there with his mouth open.

"Hey! What gives!" Kain said angrily as he noticed the can had already been emptied. He carelessly tossed it over his shoulder and then grabbed another can. Empty. He threw it away as well and grabbed for yet another container. Empty. He went through the entire cabinet of cans, all cut open and drained of the food inside.

Kain slumped down to his knees in disbelief; someone had beaten them to the food! As Kain sat there, sulking, Trice leaned over and picked up one of the empty cans to observe it. On one side of the can, engraved through both the label and the aluminum of the can itself was the word "Geal."

"Geal…" Trice repeated to herself, stumped as to what the word meant. She gently set the can onto a nearby counter-top as she thought about the strange message.

"Well, it seems as though there's so food left here at all." Garaku said as he searched through other shelves and cupboards; all cans empty save for a few traces of liquid.

Kain let out a quiet whimper before standing back up. "Well… we have some food in our packs still, right?"

"Only enough for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow." Garaku said as he left the old outpost, followed by Trice and the wyverns.

"H-Hey! Where are you guys going?" Kain stumbled out of the outpost behind them.

"You heard Garaku, we'll just wait until later to eat." Trice said optimistically, but she was just as disappointed and upset as Kain.

The group slowly trudged along west, slowly curving north. Garaku led them through a thin mountain pass, which eventually opened north into a spacious, relatively flat clearing. The orange mountains still surrounded the area, but there were no longer random jagged rocks protruding from the ground. The clearing was littered, however, with ancient stone ruins and towers. The once proud castles now reduced to rubble from the flames of time. It was getting quite late now, a great shadow of the mountains veiled the area; the sky a brilliant canvas of pinks, oranges, and crimsons; all fading into a deep violet, which at the end of the sky had shifted to black.

The climate was much cooler now that the sun had hidden behind the mountains, sending shivers down the adventurers' spines.

"W-w-well, here we are, Sauromugue Campaign." Garaku shuddered as he spoke; the chilling cold sinking its claws into him. "Let's set up c-c-c-camp in one of the old ruins."

"Good idea." Kain replied as he quickly walked toward the nearest stone ruin.  
The three approached the crumbling castle; it was a large square with a small doorway built in one of the sides; the inside was mostly bare dirt, save for some square stones protruding from one of the walls. The bricks stuck out in a patter; angling up and leading to a large stone balcony at the top, resembling a staircase.

Garaku dropped his pack in the middle of the clearing, then pulled out three small rice balls. Kain and Trice both dropped their packs then sat on the ground, relieved to be done with walking for the day.

"Here you go, guys," Garaku said as he tossed rice balls to Kain and Trice, "eat up!"

Trice skillfully caught her rice ball, but Kain's pegged him right in the head. He rubbed his skull with one hand as he picked up the rice ball with the other. He observed it a moment, then bit into it as hard as he could.

"Blegh! What is this!" Kain complained bluntly; the rice ball was rock hard and tasted terrible.

"That's your dinner," Garaku snapped at Kain; biting off a small section, crunching it in his mouth, "now stop complaining! You should be thankful you get anything at all!"

"Can't we at least cook them over a campfire first?" Kain set his rice ball on a flat brick on the ground, dropping another stone on it, causing it to shatter into several small shards. Kain moved the top stone and began lifting the tiny bits and pieces to his mouth.

"Campfire?" trice objected, "Have you seen anything that could even remotely be used as timber? The last plant we passed was back at the outpost, and it was a long-dead weed!"

Kain groaned, but Trice had a point; there was nothing but dirt and rocks around them.

the three of them finished their rice balls, then slowly drifted off to sleep after a long day of walking; all three too tired and hungry to work up the strength for a conversation.


End file.
